In Japan, “Financial Gaps Widen Among School Libraries”

From The Japan News:

Some schools have already made efforts to increase their collections and have school librarians who can give advice to students. However, disparities in finances between municipalities are widening, and there are mounting calls from local governments for the national government to increase financial support.
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According to the education ministry, the rate of schools that have achieved the standard number of books was 60.3 percent at primary schools in the 2013 school year, up 3.5 percentage points from the 2011 school year. At middle schools it was 50 percent, up 2.5 points from the 2011 school year. While some municipalities have achieved 100 percent, other municipalities have not.
As for the rate of librarians, both primary and middle schools achieved more than 50 percent of the prescribed standard for the first time in the 2014 school year. However, the rate at high schools was 64.4 percent, down 3.3 points from the 2012 school year.

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Filed under: Libraries, News, School Libraries